Abercrombie & Fitch sued over hijab firing

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Published 3:52 pm, Monday, June 27, 2011

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

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Zahra Billoo (left), executive director of the SF Bay Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, with plaintiff Hani Khan (right) from San Mateo talk after a press conference in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, June 27, 2011. Hani was fired at a Hollister Co. store in the Hillsdale Mall location for refusing to remove her religious head scarf, or hijab. She is filing a lawsuit today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against Abercrombie & Fitch. less

Zahra Billoo (left), executive director of the SF Bay Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, with plaintiff Hani Khan (right) from San Mateo talk after a press conference in San Francisco, ... more

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

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Plaintiff Hani Khan from San Mateo filed a lawsuit today against Abercrombie and Fitch in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, June 27, 2011. She was fired at a Hollister Co. store in the Hillsdale Mall location for refusing to remove her religious head scarf, or hijab. She was initially hired whe was told her hijab would not be in confilict with the company's "look policy" so long as she wore it in company colors--red, white, and/or blue. She complied, but was then asked to remove her hijab while working four months later. less

Plaintiff Hani Khan from San Mateo filed a lawsuit today against Abercrombie and Fitch in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, June 27, 2011. She was fired at a Hollister Co. store in the Hillsdale Mall ... more

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

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Steven Raspa, special events producer for Burning Man hosting the 2011 Desert Arts Preview -- Annual Artist Lecture Series, at the Mission Rock Cafe in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, June 23, 2011. Artist, pacifist, and arts advocate, Ra$pa has been growing his beard for more than 13 years and sculpting it with steel wire for at least eight of those years. "It's my longest relationship. You can't really plan a beard like this, so much as live it--just as one lives one's values. I value imagination and play." He made himself ear plugs that were originally the custom bubble blowing wands for a bubble fountain sculpture called "Futura Deluxe" during the 1999 Burning Man event. He is also wearing gifts: a friend's grandfather's hat from the early 1900's, and heart-shaped brass knuckles. Originally from New York, he favors a simple black suit and derby or top hat and tails. less

SAN MATEO -- A Bay Area Muslim woman sued Abercrombie & Fitch on Monday, claiming that the clothing retailer fired her when she refused to remove her religious headscarf while working at a San Mateo store.

Khan was fired in 2010 from Abercrombie's Hollister Co. store in the Hillsdale Mall in San Mateo for refusing to remove her hijab, or headscarf, according to the suit her attorneys filed in federal court in San Francisco.

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Khan said that when she was hired in October 2009, store managers told her that her hijab would not be in conflict with Abercrombie's "look policy," as long as she wore it in company colors.

Abercrombie requires that employees dress in natural, "beachy" clothes such as jeans, flip-flops and a T-shirt, Khan said.

Then in February 2010, a week after a district manager visited the store, a company official told Khan to stop wearing the hijab, her suit says. She refused and was suspended, and a week later was fired.

Abercrombie would not comment on Khan's case or its dress code. In a statement, the company said, "We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all individuals regardless of religion, race or ethnicity. ... We comply with the law regarding reasonable religious accommodation."

In a news conference Monday, Khan - wearing a bright purple hijab - said the experience with Abercrombie "shook my confidence. I didn't have that problem before."

Khan began wearing a hijab when she was in kindergarten and said she never had a problem while growing up in Foster City.

"After 9/11, all my neighbors, all my classmates, all my teachers - they supported me," Khan said. "No one had an issue then. For there to be an issue now, it was just completely out of the ordinary."

Khan's suit seeks to force Abercrombie to change its dress code to loosen restrictions on religious clothing. She is not trying to get her job back but is seeking back wages and unspecified damages.

Khan's lawsuit is not the first of its kind against the company. Two other former employees have filed suits, claiming that Abercrombie discriminated against them because of their hijabs.

"Abercrombie prides itself on requiring what it calls 'a natural, classic American style,' " said Araceli Martinez-Olguin, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center, which is representing Khan. "But there is nothing American about discriminating against someone because of their religion."

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